The transformation from cathode ray tubes to LCD displays has been rapid since the early 2000s. We now have thinner, lighter and bigger screens available with affordable prices. You have probably also seen pictures of flexible displays and read stories about flexible mobile phones and foldable screens. I'm sure many of you have also thought if we really need those and would it in the end be practical to have a foldable display in your pocket. Probably not, but flexible displays allow new product opportunities for many industries such as car industry and consumer products. However, one of the biggest drivers for the flexible displays is actually related to the manufacturing of the displays.

Innovation in aerospace technologies is moving forward with a very high pace. Since the mid-1990s we have seen the birth of much more energy efficient propulsion systems, increased use of advanced materials like carbon fiber, a higher level of adhesives used and improved customer experience through noise reduction. So what’s next on the agenda for all the companies involved? Can we continue to improve the materials or have we started to reach the end of optimization? And are there any new materials coming that could be part of changing the game yet again?

Paint formulators face many challenges in today’s market, and are continuously in search of new innovative raw materials to satisfy the needs of their customers. In an effort to reduce cost, improve technical properties, and fulfill more stringent environmental regulations, chemists have started to look toward a class of products known as microspheres.

Can MFC assist formulators of car care products achieve the next level of performance? Can it offer ease of use for consumers and car care professionals, while at the same time using safer, more environmentally friendly additives with a wide range of functionality? I think the answer is yes, and I will show you why.

The open time, wet edge or lapping of a coating is a measure of how much time an air dry coating takes to reach a stage where it can no longer be applied by brush or roller to the same "wet" coating without leaving an indication on drying that the "wet" and newly applied coating did not quite flow together. Therefore, the advantage of having good open time in a stain would result in better general appearance of the stain.

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) differs from many rheology modifiers in that aspect that it can be used in high salinity formulations. The rheology effect comes from entangled fibers and salts do not influence this network as it does when the rheology effect is based on ionic interactions. However, the viscosity and other rheological properties vary slightly as a function of salt concentration. Let’s take a closer look at the reasons behind this.

The ability of nanocellulose and microfibrillated cellulose to provide strength in different products has been discussed and studied for a long time. MFC fibers are strong and lightweight and has large surface area which makes it an excellent candidate for strengthening aid. Some are referring to the composites containing MFC as being “the next world-changing supermaterial” (Gizmodo, 2014), while others believe that they can be part of car production (Financial Post 2017). So how is this actually working?

Three dimensional (3D) printing and tissue engineering are two fields that are currently developing rapidly and are both exciting technologies on their own. What if you combine them? That creates a new manufacturing process, bioprinting. It is a promising technology that might be the key to the on-demand tissue engineering. Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) or nanocellulosic materials generally have an important role in the development.

Professor Lars Berglund, Head of the Biocomposites Division at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (Sweden), guides us through the relationship between cellulose and epoxy in this blog post. Not only do they matter, the properties created by this reaction are also excellent. Learn more about this in this weeks guest blog post.

There are many exciting new innovations coming through in the field of nanocellulose and microfibrillated cellulose these days. In this week’s news on MFC, read about innovations ranging from artificial silk production to stand up pouches.

A blog from Borregaard

Exilva is Borregaard’s innovative new additive within the field of Microfibrillar / Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). Exilva is a completely natural and infinitely sustainable performance enhancer that improves rheology and stability in product formulations.